The People Behind the Business

At Daymon, it’s all about the people. And why is that? Because without focusing on building teams comprised of the best people in the industry, we can’t offer the best services to our clients. It’s a simple fact. The people that work behind the scenes of our well-oiled machine are the ones who drive the countless services under our belt including sourcing, category management, food, nonfood, product development, supply chain, and more.

I think the partnership with Advantage means the most for you, our valued partners. We have more associates that ever before working toward improving your business. While I couldn’t tell you about all of them in this letter, I did want to share just a few of the stories of some of the people who make up Daymon, those who are in the trenches of your businesses day in and day out. These people represent the work ethic and skill that have kept us succeeding for the past 47 years. This is what Daymon and its five business units are all about.

Meet Sourcing Guru Asmita Pahwa
Asmita is a Daymon veteran with over 14 years of experience who keeps her ideas as fresh as the day she started. With two Top Women in Grocery awards in her arsenal, she’s proven time and again that she’s the real deal when it comes to making supply moves.

“A core component of my responsibilities is simplifying the complexities of trading and sourcing platforms to help customers gain competitive advantage, both financially and strategically. Customers may want to enter a new market or import a product, but it can be difficult to do that without the relationships we’ve cultivated over the years. At Daymon, we bridge that gap and bring that value to the table every day.”

As a Senior Director of Global Sourcing, Product Development & Supply Chain Operations, in Daymon’s Brand Development Group and Omni Global Sourcing Solutions business unit, she not only spearheads the expansion of sourcing geographies but also monetizes supplier relationships globally across all categories and forecasts trends and develops products for seasonal general merchandise portfolios (you have her to thank for this year’s snowflake merch).

Asmita drives one message across her team that has helped her along her career and it is to always challenge the status quo and ask, “Why not?”

Meet Graphic Design Virtuoso Rit Cooper
If you make a list of the top players in the retail industry, you’re well on your way to outlining Rit’s client roster.

As a graphic designer for Interactions, Daymon’s experiential marketing agency, Rit creates graphics that bring some of the biggest retailers’ visions to life. From developing an infographic to making a tour bus vehicle wrap for a nationwide campaign, he’s always working on the next big thing and has the accolades to prove it as an American Graphic Design Award recipient.

“One of my favorite campaigns involved the development of a digital game for Advanced Auto Parts. I was tasked with conceptualizing and creating the app, but the real highlight was seeing over 13,000 players use the game to register for our client’s Speed Perks loyalty program. These are the kinds of tangible results that make the work rewarding for us and successful for our clients.”

Meet Category Maven Josephine Theal
Throughout the company Josephine is known as a bonafide seafood expert but that’s only one of many things she brings to the table. As a part of the Brand Development arm, which builds retailer brands using business insights, Josephine is focused on providing category knowledge, trend analysis, merchandising and product development consultation for retailers.

“Most recently, I’ve been working on conducting customer void analysis, which helps determine the white space in a business. The best thing about these reports is that they enable us to create a truly customized plan for product assortment and positioning strategy to increase sales. Clients love it and we love catering to their business needs.”

Josephine is a Senior Manager, Category Solutions who has been with Daymon for five years and a recipient of Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery.

Meet Sales Insider Carlos Rodriguez
What started out as a 2017 internship with Club Demonstration Services (CDS), the preferred in-house event marketing provider to Costco, quickly evolved into Carlos’ first foray in the working world. Today, he’s a full-time Sales Account Manager in Spain.

“The project I’m most proud of is the development of a pop-up shop dedicated to showcasing pharma products. The Costco location we were working with had never offered this kind of sampling, so we couldn’t wait to bring it to life. However, this is only one of many categories we plan on exploring because when it comes to delivering new marketing needs for our customers, we always give 200 percent!”

Beyond helping Costco delve into new verticals, Carlos is tasked with sourcing new vendors and contracts to fulfill the adaptive needs of Costco buyers. He has also designed a scheduling process that increases demo rates while reducing costs and enhancing the overall event experience.

Meet Merchandising Expert Cathy Clark-Elowson
The merchandising world is fast and furious, and no one knows that better than Cathy, a program coordinator at SAS Retail Services, which develops merchandising service programs for the nation’s largest retailers and consumer brands.

“What I enjoy most about my job is creating strong relationships with clients and delivering what they need – which means we’re always making change requests on a dime. Sometimes we’ll have a day to remove a product or sometimes it’ll be a matter of hours, but no matter how long it takes our mantra is always to get it done right and get it done fast.”

In the nearly two years that she’s worked for Daymon, Cathy has become skilled at completing retail store resets. By using deep data analysis she’s able to compile personalized in-store findings to create killer merchandising and execution programs time and again.

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By sharing the stories of these folks, we’re just scratching the surface of the types of experts we have under the Daymon umbrella. And the reason we have so many experts is because it’s our job to have the expansive knowledge necessary to drive forward the large and ever-changing companies our customers represent. So, if you need a sourcing issue addressed, a new communications process to consolidate expensive efforts, or an innovative strategy for seafood, Daymon has got you covered on all those fronts and so much more.

I hope you have a great holiday season and a successful end of the year.